Association between long-term air pollution exposure and COVID-19 mortality in Latin America

Recent studies have shown a relationship between air pollution and increased vulnerability and mortality due to COVID-19. Most of these studies have looked at developed countries. This study examines the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19-related deaths in four countries of Latin America that have been highly affected by the pandemic: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Our results suggest that an increase in long-term exposure of 1 μg/m3 of fine particles is associated with a 2.7 percent increase in the COVID-19 mortality rate. This relationship is found primarily in municipalities of metropolitan areas, where urban air pollution sources dominate, and air quality guidelines are usually exceeded. By focusing the analysis on Latin America, we provide a first glimpse on the role of air pollution as a risk factor for COVID-19 mortality within a context characterized by weak environmental institutions, limited health care capacity and high levels of inequality

Income Heterogeneity and Communication in Global Public Goods

The stabilization of the world’s climate is a perfect case of a collective action problem that— because the efforts by an individual country have little effect—requires coordination among countries in order to attain desirable outcomes. Experimental evidence suggests that one way of attaining such coordination is by allowing for interaction and negotiation among heterogeneous agents and/or groups of such agents. In this paper we test experimentally the potential gains of interaction among heterogeneous agents in the presence of a collective action problem such as climate change negotiations. This research has direct implication for advising policy makers and country officials at climate negotiations in order to achieve an international climate change agreement. Addressing affirmatively this research question should advice officials about the convenience to act together, or in country-blocks, when negotiating green-house gas (GHG) emission reductions for the next international climate change agreement

Association between long-term air pollution exposure and COVID-19 mortality in Latin America.

Recent studies have shown a relationship between air pollution and increased vulnerability and mortality due to COVID-19. Most of these studies have looked at developed countries. This study examines the relationship between long-term exposure to air pollution and COVID-19-related deaths in four countries of Latin America that have been highly affected by the pandemic: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. Our results suggest that an increase in long-term exposure of 1 μg/m3 of fine particles is associated with a 2.7 percent increase in the COVID-19 mortality rate. This relationship is found primarily in municipalities of metropolitan areas, where urban air pollution sources dominate, and air quality guidelines are usually exceeded. By focusing the analysis on Latin America, we provide a first glimpse on the role of air pollution as a risk factor for COVID-19 mortality within a context characterized by weak environmental institutions, limited health care capacity and high levels of inequality

Distribution of long-term pollution (PM_2.5) concentrations and COVID-19 deaths in Latin America.

a: Brazil; b: Chile; c: Colombia; d: Mexico. Notes: This figure shows the spatial distribution of long-term fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations, averaged from 2000 to 2018, and 2020 COVID-19 mortality rate per 1,000 people across municipalities of selected countries in Latin America. We measure pollution in μg/m3, and the data correspond to long-term trends of PM2.5 concentrations obtained from [45]. Data on municipality-level COVID-19 mortality rates come from each country’s official sources for 2020. Maps for this study were created in ArcMap 10.3. The basemaps were adapted from Esri, DeLorme, HERE [47] and have been republished under a CC BY license, with permission, original copyright (2021). The shapefiles for Brazil and Chile were adapted from [48, 49], respectively. The shapefiles for Colombia were adapted from IGAC [50] and have been republished under a CC BY license, with permission, original copyright (2022). The shapefiles for Mexico were adapted from INEGI [51] and have been republished under a CC BY license, with permission, original copyright (2010).</p

Long-term average PM_2.5 exposure and COVID-19 mortality rate by country, negative binomial.

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Long-term average PM_2.5 exposure and COVID-19 mortality rate in Latin American municipalities above and below the World Health Organization annual air quality guideline.

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Descriptive statistics on 2010–2018 average fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations.

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Data description and sources.

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Long-term average PM_2.5 exposure and COVID-19 mortality rate in Latin American municipalities, negative binomial.

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Descriptive statistics on 2000–2018 fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations.

Descriptive statistics on 2000–2018 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations.</p